Well, today I switched on my computer. I wanted to play some music through WinAMP v2.8, so I opened it up, and tried to play song, and I got the error:

Bad DirectSound driver. Please install proper drivers or select another device in configuration.
Error code: 88780078

My computer is not playing any sound, and it isnt recognizing a sound card. This happened all of a sudden. It worked perfectly fine before. My sound card is sitting perfectly fine into the PCI slot. I've checked it and refitted it.

What do you guys think I should do?

What Operating System?
Have you recently updated the drivers or added any software that might have altered driver files?
Is the Sound Card still listed in Device Manager? Is there a ? or a ! in Device Manager? If so have you tried removing it from there and rebooting to let the OS detect it?

Have you tried a different PCI slot?

Operating System: Windows XP

About a week ago, I updated my drivers for my sound card (Creative SB Audigy Player 5.1). Audio has been working after that. Suddenly stopped today.

Here is current Device Manager:



I haven't tried different PCI slots.

Try reverting to the old drivers, and solving the 1394 net adapter deal. Plus change the PCI slot.

What are the odds of you having a Soyo Dragon system board?

I tried Roll Back Driver, but it says 'No driver files have been hacked up for this device.' I insert my Audigy CD-ROM into the CD-Drive, and when I try installing the drivers, it says that it cannot detect a Sound Blaster sound card. Does the 1394 Net Adapter have something to do with it?

If your SoundBlaster card is the one with 1394 on it, then yes that has to do with it. If you don't know what that device is, then it may be your soundcard being incorrectly identified by the system.(not the first time I've heard of such) You might try removing that device from the Device Manager and scan for changes.

I doubt it has anything to do with the Soyo Dragon problem because you say it was working fine until recently.

As regards the Firewire Adapter problems have you installed this, possibly related XP patch for 1394 Adapter problems?
http://microsoft.com/downloads/relea...eleaseID=44911

I've changed PCI slots, downloaded that Firewire patch, and even reformatted (-_-) but no luck... The system will not detect the card. The 1394 Net Adapter is still a problem in Device Manager. I don't know how to fix that.

Please help!

Is the 1394 Firewire adapter part of the Soundcard or is it a separate card or maybe integrated into the motherboard?
Have you tried another soundcard? Pretty much all that is left is the card itself being faulty.

This really sounds like the soundcard may be defective. Generally speaking, devices in your computer just don't stop working one day and can no longer be detected.

When you take it out and change PCI slots, does Windows TRY to find drivers for it? Or does it just boot up normally? If it does not try to find drivers for it, it is most likely defective and will have to be replaced since.

I don't fully agree with this Rick, I have seen many times that a device just stops being detected like it is no longer there. BUT, it is usually solved by going through Add New Hardware or scanning for changes, sometimes the contacts on the card may need cleaning, this is neither here nor there. The fact that he has not only done those things I mentioned but also changed slots and formatted(a little drastic). So, yes, you are correct that they don't just disappear and not come back with a little help.


*************One more thing you should do before running out to get a new card. Inspect that one for visible signs of defect or oxidation on the contacts. You may try cleaning the contacts on the card and try it again. If there is visible signs of defects(big black spots, small black spots, components melted to the board, etc..) then it is surely dead.

I stand corrected then, Storm.

You did say "Generally speaking" which would indicate it is a possibility, though some people might not register that part. I just didn't want the next guy with a disappearing device to see it and think it is always the case and go buy something he might not need.

There is no such thing as Never and Always when dealing with electronics.

The "generally speaking" was meant to be indicitave of this. But it is might have too strong or certain of meaning. Things are fairly uncertain in the computer world.

Ok. The card itself is NOT faulty. I inserted it into a PCI slot on my old machine, and it picked it up right away. I thought maybe my PCI slots weren't working (the sound card is the only PCI device I have). I inserted an old 56.6k modem into my new machines PCI slots, and it was picked up straight away. This is really confusing. The 1394 Net Adapter is from the sound card. I was browsing around in System Information and I clicked on Components > Sound Devices and the Audigy appeared:

Name: Creative Audigy Audio Processor (WDM)
Manufacturer: Creative Technology Ltd.
Status: OK
PNP Device ID: PCI\VEN_1102&DEV_0004&SUBSYS_00401102&REV_03\4&11C9F252&0&08F0
I/O Port: 0x00009000-0x0000901F
IRQ Channel: IRQ 20
Driver: d:\windows\system32\drivers\e10kx2k.sys (5.12.01.0129-1.00.0010, 1.66 MB (1,745,168 bytes). 13/11/2002 20:40)

There aren't any conflicts/sharing between the sound card, and i can't see IRQ 20 there either.

*sigh* Any ideas?

I have had the same problem, TWICE! The absurdity of the issue is that it occured just after I installed new drivers. I received the exact same message you received. I also am running XP but with a SBLive! card and not an audigy. The whole issue is driving me to insanity. The first time this happened to me I reinstalled my whole system in order to solve the issue. I wonder if it is a problem with direct sound recognizing the new drivers, and then not recognizing the old ones when they are reinstated. It is definitely a driver issue, I guarantee that. My hardware is just fine. Hope we can find an answer to this crime of stealing my valuable time to fix something that I paid good money in hopes of quality.

I had the same problem....

tried to use winamp 2.80 and i got the same message after having my card for more than 2 years, fully functioning....!!!

my s/c is a Ensoniq pci 64

please help, what should i do ?

Have you tried seating all PCI cards in completely different slots?? I think I heard of something similar before and that was the fix.

It obviously is not a problem with our soundcards themselves. I think the problem lies in DirectSound, since 3 different sound cards have each had the same problem. Does anyone know how to "help" DirectSound recognize the the soundcards drivers, or do I just need to reinstall windows.

Tried swapping slots Result: the slots I tried didn't fix prob
Manually deleting drivers in safe mode: Result: didn't work

Is there any end to this? I think I will just need to reinstall XP which is a very stupid process for me. Since my product key somehow expired I have to call MS and wait for them to give me a new key.

Please if anyone in the world knows a solution to my problem PLEASE TELL ME! I am dead end on ideas.

Does anyone know the difference between wdm and vxd drivers. There is support page for uninstalling WDM and installing VXD, but the page does not say why or what this could fix.